Analysis: Consumers Back on Their Heels a Bit

U.S. retail sales saw a modest 0.1% uptick in January, with the gain likely held back by the fact that a higher payroll tax kicked in at the start of the new year. Compared with a year earlier, retail and food-service sales were up 4.4%. Robert Dye, chief economist at Comerica Bank, discusses the report with the Wall Street Journal Online’s Jim Chesko.

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